Dungeons and Dragons Lore: Mephistopheles 

*cups his hands around his mouth and yells* "YOU'RE STILL ONLY SECOND BEEEEEST"

Anyone else get the impression that Asmodeus keeps Mephistopheles around just because he really enjoys messing with him, letting him build up his hopes and ambitions only to crush them? 😈

"Frostbite within hours" Me, a Minnesotan: "Oh. So not THAT cold then."

Meth-istopheles, Fiendish Prince Of Florida.

13:49 "Mordenkainen's tome of Hoes" 🤣🤣😂

Asmodeus admires and respects Mephistopheles, that's why he keeps him around. How could he not appreciate something so evil? Asmodeus has no reason to feel threatened by him. In Asmodeus' view, when he eventually breaks Mephistopheles, all the hells will fall in line after him, because no other being in hell rivals his ambition or power.

13:49 "Mordenkainen's Tome of Hoes" Love it.

'Mordenkainens Tome of Ho's', now THAT is a supplement I want!

I recently read Goethe's Faust so I'm very much enjoying this. Also, gotta love that he's basically the Nine Hells' WMD R&D department.

13:49 "Mordenkainen's Tome of Hoes" lol

13:50 Ah yes, Mordenkainen's Tome of Hoes, the lesser known companion book to the Tome of Foes.

Oh, I'd like to know more about the undead angels, I have been working on an entropic subtype for outsiders for my own setting.

In one of my high-level campaigns, the Spawn movie was new. One of my players combed the land for an artifact that would give him the abilities of Spawn, he had a list of AD&D equivalents. I used Mephistopheles on him. He had to willingly burn to death while wearing the cloak for it to activate. He came back to life, looking a lot like an AD&D middle ages hellspawn, a modified Chain Devil. He got the powers. Hated that the cloak and chains were now part of him, he got vulnerable to divine light powers, and his maximum HP's dropped by one every day. Smart player, he figured out how to bring his max HP's back up. "Dang, man. You take the deal with the devil's strings seriously." "Well, you did ask for it and Mephistopheles told you exactly who he was and that you WILL BE hellbound, right?" Oh, and he had to go on a quest to remove divine disfavor and prove he was not truly a devil and of good intention. He got the party to have some horrible brushes with upper planer beings, their allies, paladins, and priests. Being Felix Faust in my campaigns is something I strongly recommend against with all of my players.

The biggest dealer in mephamphetamines.

While the other 8 Archdevils want to depose Asmodeus and take his place, Mephistopheles is the onl one who had the guts to actually say it to Asmodeus' face. Given what we know of Asmodeus, especially his sheer power, can you imagine the balls it would take to do that? Mephistopheles is hardcore on a lever no other Archduke ever was.

I for one, can never get enough of people mistaking Mephistopheles for Asmodeus. And that Asmodeus just lolz and takes credit for Mephisto's work is just gold. He'll even let put Mephisto in charge of his shrines sometimes because it's not like anyone can tell the difference, right? I swear it's the best long-running joke in all the Nine Hells. Archdevils embroiled in sitcom-workplace-shenanigans is what I live for. 10/10

Remember, Megatron kept Starscream around, ostensibly because Starscream was good at what he did. I think it's the same thing here.

Mephistopheles as the Lord of the Eight also embodies the ultimate futility of over arching ambition. He will never be satisfied with the power he has; the moment he toppled Asmodeus he would be crave even more power, unsatiated with what he has gained.

A cool idea for hell fire Ever held an ice cube or had a leg etc fall asleep on you Imagine that feeling times 1000 a feeling of frostbite but one that has no problem cooking your skin off of you agonizing go hold an icecube for 10 mins now imagine it able to melt through your hand That's my idea of hellfire maybe a deep purple flame or blue or green or a abnormal scarlet something that gives off the vibe it's not normal As beautiful as a devil but as cruel cold and horrible too

I love this channel man

I actually like this archdevil, he seems very interesting.

“Who needs enemies when you have bosses like him?” *points at a smiling Mephistopheles*-some ice devil.

*playing Neverwinter Nights and answering the 5 fold mysteries while listening to lore* 23:11 "hay... that sounds familiar..."

Mephistopheles; when he doesn’t get what he wants, he gets a headache. Basically

If they ever remake the animated Dungeons and Dragons series.... you do the voice of Dungeon Master.....

Fascinating, not just for the lore on Mephisto, but on all his generals, Dukes, Consort and the like. Great stuff!

Always loved using gelugon in my game. I tend to make them look unique from one another, taking various insect looks instead ov the same, mantis-look they have going on. I give the advanced forms a pair ov wings that can cause a droning sound and can kick up small devil funnels(tiny tornados ov dust & grit) that hamper vision and may allow for a Minor Image spell effect for a round or few. Always a good way to throw off the veteran players that can't help from meta-gaming due to playing for so long. Fun times ;)

The 8th plane of Hell will cause frostbite within hours? There are many places on our Earthly little plane that will cause frostbite within minutes.

Hey AJ, I was wondering if you would do a video on Bel. The former lord of the first layer. I really like the relationship between him and Zariel and I feel that needs to be covered more as I think it really covers what life is like in the 9 hells

MWAHAHA MORTAL! WELCOME TO HELL! We're gonna whip you and bury you in bureaucracy! Mortal: uh, but I'm lawful evil. Devil:!?!? Mortal:... D: So? Mortal: *closes his eyes and rubs his nips while quivering out a whisper* whip me again and tell me more about your big bad bureaucracy... Devil: EVERY... GOD DAMN TIME. *Tries to quit but has to complete 666 exit interviews and a 9000 year long grace/notice period* And that is why 'pure souls' are so delectably obsessed over in hell.

This is in response to his layer of hell's climate: Causing frostbite within hours you say? -30 C causes frostbite in minutes to unexposed skin. -30 could cause frostbite in hours if you dress properly. -50 (about as cold as it gets where I am) cuts through thermal clothing and could probably cause frostbite in an hour. The frostbite would be under ten minutes to exposed skin probably. TL;DR Frostbite within hours isn't THAT hellish

Back in the day he was called the lord of pain.. but remember.. in d&d , only asmodaus counts. He simply ALLOWS some others to have their own planes. He can instantly replace them at will.

I had one character, an exorcist cleric whose soul was crafted by both angels and Mephistopheles with the purpose of infecting chaotic entities with a "soul virus" that would have turned them to the side of law. For some reason this character was very respectful of devils, especially Mephistopheles, who knows why...

Loved this archdevil since I read about him in the Everest Cal books

The hellfire you described reminds me of a character I play, a Tiefling red draconic sorcerer / Undying light warlock. He has the Elemental Adept (fire) feat and Flames of Phlegethos feat. So his flames cut through fire resistance, coat him in a protective barrier, and are far more powerful then normal fire

Mephistopeles has always been one of my favorites. He is just cool.

One of my players in my campaign is a warlock with this guy as his patron.

I hear Kenya when you say Carnia and it gets me everytime.

I always loved to use this devil when I do alot of campaigns that deal with non-necromancers, or even semi-necromatic magic users that might not get the attention of Orcus. Like when I took the idea of the movie "13 ghosts" in which he contracts with a mage that had began to work on exploring the secrets of the soul, and then thru his advice if they do not turn back from his offer of explaining the secrets of the soul, but only if the mage can build a machine that fueled by the dark unique souls of several beings both mortal an undead of the world. When the mage if they succeeded in building this device it would be revealed it is used to open a stable permanent portal to his own plane giving his direct access to these worlds.

Call me little sunshine,call me Mephisropheles- Ghost

This is my favorite video and favorite archdevil. Thanks Professor

Ah man that story recap of Hoard of the Underdark was so nostalgic! I played that game many times! Ah, I miss Nathyra xD

Faust actually encounters him in the guise of a dog,brings him home and then he turns into Mephisto and tells him who he is.According to Goethe.

Dont forget the period where he had a Jerry Curl!

You said something about dis pater in this video.. very interesting because recently ive been reading more about dantes inferno, and somehow i got on the tangent of cthonic deities, and dis pater was the original lord of the underworld and death. Back then Hades, and Pluto were more associated with cthonic wealth, as well as just the underground as a physical thing, while Dis Pater was a place and a being dealing with the underworld. Very great work AJ, keep it up.

Perfect! Just what I've been looking for!

WARNING! SPOILER WARNING: so, what I am about to recount may be remembered incorrectly and/or a spoiler to would be readers of Faerun’s past. My first encounter with Mephistopheles in D&D and the Forgotten Realms is in the Erevis Cale Novels. Erevis Cale is/was the chosen of the deceased god, Mask. Mask is/was the god of thieves and shadows. And apparently, Mask is/was also the offspring of Shar, goddess of darkness. There was in this scene in the novels where Mask tasks Erebus to find a chalice that hold his divine essence and will bestow the mantle of Shadows upon the one who drinks it giving them Mask’s divine power. At the end of the novel three different individuals drink from this chalice: Mephistopheles, one of the Princes of Shade Enclave (a Shade), and a compatriot of Erevis Cale who was also a devotee of Mask. Mask had stored this divine essence away upon a dying world where it was revealed that Mask is the son of Shar. In this same series of novels, Mask is summoned to darkness of Shar’s realm where she embraces her son only to kill him by slowly snuffing out his existence. Mask makes an attempt to say something to his dark mother, but she says, “Shsh!” ...just before extinguishing his divine spark. The other interesting thing about Mask in this novels is that whenever Erevis and Mask communed, Erevis would go to a back alley in a city or town and wait for the avatar of Mask to reveal himself. I digress, so at the end of one of the novels when Mephistopheles drinks from this chalice he gains some of Masks’s divine power and in so doing becomes a minor divine power. I wonder if this remains canon in 5th Edition...?

This is one of the videos I have been waiting for since I first signed up for the channel! Well done sir!

Classic diabolical evil ruler of hell, drokking "handsome devil"

One of your best...Great!! I wish we had more pics of the subjects...Still, great job

All i can imagine when you were explaining what Mephistopheles looks like was Illidan, but blue. XD

Mephistopheles is a main villain of the pc game neverwinter night 1 module shadows of undrentide

I just remember him from the Neverwinter Nights game, second expansion Hordes of the Underdark, as the finall boss whos true name you could aquire and beat that way. Damn that expansion was the best NWN content ever.

Another great video, AJ! I'd love it if you'd cover Dispater and the layer/city of Dis (if you haven't already, I might have missed it).

Interesting thought: Lucifer and Satan were not used as names.

Thanks for the vid sir.👍🏼👍🏼

"Stay, thou art so beautyful..."

Talk about the paladin devils That ride nightmares

THIS is a very interesting, multidimensional character. So many possibilities.

I wonder if Mephistopheles' Hellfire could melt Levistus' Icy tomb...

The Lord of NO MERCY? So he's the God of Cobra Kai :)

Dicefreaks Devils pwn all others! Just take a look of the power of those monstrosities!

Mordenkainen's tome of HOES!!! Damn bro, that's a book i want to read...

Thx as always

I have been waiting for you... mephistopholes

Mephistopheles is, by far, my favorite lord of Hell.

So, I now many people have asked, as well as you have hinted in your live streams about games with viewers. I think a RP lite one shot would be great. Have all players being monster hunters for the Sage AJ, that has them go out and encounter creatures for him to study. Have 1-2 hours games where they go out and gather intel or bring back rare creatures would be a great time. Maybe XP based off of missions (ie: 1 monster to get to level 2, 2 monsters to get to level 3, etc)

His experimentation almost sounds like he could be liable to bring on the same disaster he preys on wizards. Like accidentally create a hole to the abyss, or some other chaotic force. Not knowing much on him, I was thinking along the lines of the incubators of Madoka Magica, inspired by the Faust roots.

When I was a little wanabee munchkin playing 3.5 I would often just roll a Mephistopheles cultist to get free Hellfire casts since the cult's supposed to get a few casts for free, caster class or not. (For a wanabee munchkin I was really bad at bookkeeping for a whole caster class so, getting to just launch fireballs that couldn't be resisted by fire resistance/immunity (I don't remember if general Spell Resistance could block them) was fun. At least in the Fiendish Codex 2 there wasn't really a strict cost on using Hellfire.

Love the vid, as always. Gonna use Meph in my late game. Maybe as a means to get more power for the pcs

Yassss. Kicked this archedevil's ass singlehandedly in Shadows of the Underdark - wasn't a pushover, but wasn't a cakewalk either.

One has to wonder... what would happen if a mage would turn his offer down?

We need a video on asmodius! Ignore me if you've made one, im gonna search for it.

Ah Mags as the first image, damn good book series that needs a reread.

In my game there's a red dragon who desperately wants to learn how to breathe hellfire and kidnaps wizards and those who deal with devils wanting answers, he doesn't hurt the wizards but he is running out of space to hold them. And wont let them go until he learns how to breathe hellfire. Granted because hes so focused on this he doesn't really hurt anyone in the nearby towns but if your smart or concerned with devils, I hope you don't have anything else to do for a while.

I know the events your talking about with waterdeep! It's the main plot of the Neverwinter Nights campaign Hordes of the Underdark!

Don't forget about the great and powerful Mephiskapheles!

Is there any way to break a deal with a devil? Say if you managed to somehow depose them or throw them into the abyss for Demogorgon to chew on?

Corpse Flower next. I'm thinking of making a variant that acts as an older Yellow Musk Creeper and spawns YM Zombies instead.

I was notified I saw YOU CONQUERED IT MAN! always enjoy your vids, keep being awesome!

hay AJ I've been looking in to some more rare dragons and would really appreciate if you could cover the Chole dragons of the abyss i know this is more daemons than devils, but i have no idea when you will do a more abyssal topic so just a suggestion/request for when you do

My Avatar for Baldurs Gate 3 is a Mephistopheles Tiefling! She loves magic! 🧙‍♀️

You think the creators laughed when they made a frigid ice hell and named it something that sounds a lot like "Kenya?" xD

Why become a lich when you can become a devil doing research for Mephistopheles?

With the rise of Bg3, it might be a good idea to revisit The Hells and in particular have a specific video on just the lore behind Hellfire! Plus, you can do the Hellfire Wyrm again, and EVERYONE loves dragon videos! 🐉 😈 🔥

If we are going down the line, it's Beelzebul next. But I really think Glaysa is more interesting

What are the Divine laws in the Dungeons & Dragons universe?

Neverwinter nights expansion on pc, he was the end boss.

Ah my favorite arch-devil

Talk About the ice Devils in the manes demons and the dragon Devils

I kind of like this guy

Where did you get this information on Helfire, the monk Andros, and the Book of Brimstone? I’ve not been able to find anything specific about using helfire in game or learning it in the first place

Cania was featured in godborn novel

The ballsiest devil ever. As of 3.5e, he was the only one to tell Asmodeus TO HIS FACE that he (Big Meph) was going to overthrow him and got away with it. I don't know if he has the STR score to walk with those balls! And the inventor of hellfire on top of that? Fuckin top tier devil without a doubt.

MEPHY! Friend. Back in AD&D, you were cool. Almost smart, honestly. You are *really* good at what you do. But then Asmodeus ascended to godhood. So yeah, maybe stop the rebelling thing now? Or at least play buddy buddy with Dispater. Before you came along in the MM II, he was Asmodeus's second.

Hey are you gonna talk about Barb devils & spine devils

Hell frost would be fun to have ;]

Please do Baalzebul next 👹

23:01 isn't this the plot of Neverwinter nights? Ah, the nostalgia

DON'T LEAVE IT TO ME AJ, DON'T! I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO!!1 TELL ME! TEEEEELLLL MEEEEEEEE....